Mike McGeary (1850)
Joe Quest (1852)
Paul Foytack (1930)
Frank Bolling (1931)
Harry Chiti (1932)
Minnie Mendoza (1933)
Don Hahn (1948)
Herb Washington (1951)
Glenn Burke (1952)
Curt Wardle (1960)
Dwight Gooden (1964)
Chris Haney (1968)
Pete Rose (1969)
Julio Lugo (1975)
Juan Centeno (1989)
Joe Quest (1852)
Paul Foytack (1930)
Frank Bolling (1931)
Harry Chiti (1932)
Minnie Mendoza (1933)
Don Hahn (1948)
Herb Washington (1951)
Glenn Burke (1952)
Curt Wardle (1960)
Dwight Gooden (1964)
Chris Haney (1968)
Pete Rose (1969)
Julio Lugo (1975)
Juan Centeno (1989)
Sprinter Herb Washington played for Oakland for two seasons as a
pinch-runner. He appeared in 105 games but did not play in the field and
did not bat. He stole 31 bases in 48 attempts and scored 33 runs.
Infielder Cristobal
Rigoberto (Carreras) Mendoza played 2,240 games in the minor leagues and 16
games in the majors, all with the Twins in 1970. He was born in Cieba Del Agua,
Cuba, went to high school in Havana, and was signed by Cincinnati as a free
agent in 1954. Five of his first six years were spent in Class C and B leagues.
He was released by Cincinnati before the 1958 season, and signed with the Washington
Senators. In 1959, he hit .357 with Class C Missoula, which finally got him
promoted to Class A. He spent two years with Charlotte, posting solid averages,
although with little power. Promoted to AAA Vancouver in 1962, his first full
year of AAA at age 28, he hit .260, but with few walks and again little power.
He then went back to Charlotte, which was by then a AA city. He stayed there
for six years. He hit .291 over that stretch, but never even got another cup of
coffee at AAA until he was promoted there in 1969, at age 35. He hit .333 that
year, and in 1970, at age 36, Minnie Mendoza made his major league debut with
the Twins. He stayed for about two months, being used strictly as a
pinch-hitter/pinch runner/defensive replacement. He played in 16 games, got 16
at-bats, and hit .188. Mendoza spent the rest of the season with AAA
Evansville, went back to Charlotte for two years, and then retired at age 38.
He then became a long-time coach and manager. Most recently, Minnie Mendoza was
the Latin American field coordinator for the Cleveland Indians and at last
report was an advisor to the Indians for Latin American operations.
Left-hander Curtis Ray Wardle pitched for the Twins in 1984 and
1985. He was born in Downey, California, went to high school in Norco,
California, attended San Bernardino Valley College and Cal-Riverside, and was
drafted by the Twins in the third round in 1981. He alternated between starting
and relieving for his first two seasons, but then went to the bullpen full time
in 1983. He had very good years in 1983 and 1984 as a reliever, the former with
Class A Visalia and the latter with AA Orlando. Wardle pitched in two games for
the Twins at the end of August, 1984, and was in the big leagues for all of
1985. He did not pitch particularly well for the Twins, and on August 1 he was
traded to Cleveland with Jay Bell, Jim Weaver, and Rich Yett for Bert Blyleven.
As a Twin, Wardle was 1-3 with a 5.43 ERA in 37 appearances and 53 innings.
Placed in the starting rotation for the Indians, he did not do any better,
going 7-6, but with a 6.68 ERA. He was known as a slow worker, and given his
numbers, that may be understandable. Wardle had an unspectacular year at AAA in
1986, and was traded to Oakland in 1987 spring training. The Athletics sent him
to AA Huntsville, he pitched poorly there in six starts, and then his career
was over. At last report, Curt Wardle was living in Moreno Valley, California.
Catcher Juan C. Centeno was with the Twins for most of the 2016
season. Born and raised in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, he was drafted by the
Mets in the thirty-second round in 2007. His minor league record is
rather mixed, but he started young and did much better when he repeated a
level. He has never had much power or drawn very many walks, so most of
his offensive contribution can be found in his batting average. He hit
.305 in AAA in 2013, which got him four games with the Mets as a September
call-up. He hit .291 in AAA in 2014, which got him ten more games, six in
May and four in September. He was waived after the season and was chosen
by Milwaukee, for whom he hit .295 in AAA. It got him ten more games in
the majors, all but one in May. A free agent after the season, he signed
with Minnesota. This time he hit only .245 in AAA, but he came up to the
Twins in early May and stayed the rest of the season, backing up Kurt Suzuki.
He didn't do a bad job as a backup, batting .261/.312/.392. He
turns twenty-seven today. The only way he's likely to be a starter is if
someone gets hurt, but a team could do worse for a reserve catcher. He's
still with the Twins at this writing, and if they don't keep him the chances
are he'll turn up someplace next season.
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